


every dog has his day

by gongji



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 08:41:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9115381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gongji/pseuds/gongji
Summary: Charlotte wants Saizo to take her out on a date. Saizo doesn't know what to wear.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A Fates Secret Santa 2016 gift for @melpoloveslife on Twitter!

Saizo was a man of few words, that was true. It wasn't any sort of character flaw or some weak point of his that he wanted to improve upon, or anything - Saizo was a man of few words, he didn't mind, and that was that.   
  
Charlotte, on the other hand, thought it was the worst thing in the world.   
  
"Well, look what we have here - if it isn't my favorite lapdog," she greets him one day, spotting him out by the training grounds going through his usual strengthening regimen.   
  
"Hello, two-face," he says in return without really turning to look at her - neither insult bothered them, the two of them exchanging such greetings in what some would call a sort of odd courting ritual. Or at least, is what Charlotte hoped was the case with stoic Saizo. "Can I help you with something?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, you can," she says, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for him to stop what he was doing and turn around to face her fully.   
  
He doesn't. "What do you need?"  
  
"You," she calls out, hoping that would at least catch him off guard.  
  
It does.  
  
He stops, and finally turns around to look at her. "Me? Why me?"  
  
"Well, I want something that only you can give me, obviously." She smiles sweetly, a honeyed lilt in her voice that he (so rudely!) brushes aside.   
  
"Out with it. What is it you want from me?"  
  
"I want you to take me out on a date."  
  
"On a--" Had he heard that right? "A what?"  
  
"A date!" she repeats, louder so he has no excuse not to hear what she was saying. "I want you to take me out somewhere. Maybe a park where we can eat ice cream, or maybe a nice steak dinner, or -"  
  
"I don't have time for that."  
  
"Uh, hello? You're the one who suggested wanting to be 'an item,' remember, idiot? And you don't have time to take your girl out on a date?"  
  
He clears his throat, "Not so loudly..."  
  
"Oh, what, you don't want the rest of the came to know you got the hots for Charlotte?" she says loudly - practically yelling at this point - with her hands on her hips. "What, you think that'd break your scary ninja reputation? Big mean scary dog can't even take his girl out on their first date!"   
  
"Ugh - fine, yes, I'll take you wherever you want. Just -- just stop yelling."  
  
And as if she instantly transformed into a completely different person at his words, Charlotte's angry growl immediately flips up into a happy smile. "Ohh, you mean it? Really? I'm so happy! I can't wait--" She moves closer to give him a hug, but then grimaces, catching a whiff of his sweaty body after an intense training session, and backs off with a dismissive hand wave. "Ugh, you smell like a dog too. Freshen up and let's go tomorrow, okay?"  
  
"Tomorrow? But I --"  
  
"Saizo..." she begins, giving him what he often liked to call the 'ugly dirty crying kicked kitten abandoned on the roadside' face. He figures the harsher the term, the better he could resist it.   
  
But oh, he'd been wrong before, and now was certainly one of those times.   
  
"Fine, fine, tomorrow it is!" he says, and she's smiling again.   
  
"Great, see you then!" she says, and then pauses before continuing, "and you BETTER not show up in those rags you call a ninja uniform. I'm going on a date with a man, not a dog!"  
  
"I thought I _was_ a dog to you."   
  
"Ha, that's true. Well, every dog has his day, I guess," she replies, with a smile.   
  
Of course, Saizo being Saizo, he was completely clueless what to do after their conversation had ended - date etiquette, _Nohrian_ date etiquette, what to wear, what to do… and his pride whittled away enough for him to finally ask for help.

And that was how Saizo found himself at Oboro's place. "When I came to you for help it was for genuine advice, not to be your personal dress-up doll." Saizo holds his arms out as Oboro takes his measurements with one hand (with the expert help of her teeth - a tried and true method) and drapes almost half a bolt of fabric over his shoulder with the other. "Clearly a moment of vulnerability not meant to be repeated,” he says, "ever," he continues, as if his words would have any effect on the tailor at currently hard at work.    
  
"Stop talking and keep your arms up." Oboro bats him lightly in the side with the back of her hand, though with the measuring tape in her mouth the words sounded a lot more like "Stah tah-kig an kee yur ahs ah!" to which Saizo had (regrettably) chuckled at, earning him another - stronger - jab in the side as she takes the measuring tape from her mouth. "I'm not here to ridicule you, Saizo. You asked me for help and I'm doing just that. Helping."   
  
"I just need something to make me not look like - _sigh_ \- like a dog, she says."   
  
"And that's why I'm here to help! We're going to dress you up and make you look all dashing and handsome and less... you know," Oboro trails off and gestures towards Saizo, who frowns under his mask.   
  
"What? Less what?" he grumbles. "You are gesturing to all of me."   
  
"I know just the outfit to get you looking ready for a date!" Oboro pulls out another swatch of fabric and compares it to one at her desk. "Do you like... this color, or this one better?"   
  
"They both look the same to me."   
  
"They aren't. I'm trying to decide which one compliments your complexion more--"   
  
"Oh, just choose a damn color already!"   
  
"...Wow, even actual dogs have more patience than this."   
  
Saizo lets out another, much longer sigh. "Not you too..."   
  
"Relax, I'm only teasing." Oboro whacks him on the back in a playful manner, but with more force than he'd anticipated, so it knocks him forward a bit. "I think I have something that will be perfect, I just need to fix it up a bit and you'll walk out that door looking like a new man!"   
  
"What's wrong with me now?"   
  
"Well, you know. You're, I mean there's nothing wrong with," she gestures vaguely, "this, but..."   
  
"You are gesturing to all of me again."    
  
"Sorry, force of habit. You're a good guy, Saizo. I'm glad you've found someone who can put up with you."   
  
"Thanks-- wait, what's that supposed to mean?"    
  
Oboro laughs and that was the end of it.    
  


 

* * *

 

Saizo is late.    
  


Of course he was late, what was Charlotte expecting? She'd dressed up so nicely for this - her favorite dress, her best earrings, the necklace she worked so hard for the money to buy, the cutest hair ribbon -- oh, what did it matter! Who cares if she did her makeup in such a way to make the color of her eyes dazzle in the light if Saizo wasn't here to look at them! When he finally got here, she'd give him a piece of her mind if it was the last thing she--!

‘ _When_ ’ And the possibility of ‘ _If_ ’ creeps into her head. Was she being stood up? Saizo wouldn't do that, would he? Surely she trusted him to be a little more tactful than that. So maybe he didn't exactly know how to treat a lady, but that doesn't mean he’d go so far as to not show up on their date… right?

“Wow, look at you, defending him like that…” she says out loud to herself, running a hand through her hair. “You got it bad, huh? Of all the people in this world and it's gotta be him…”

A voice appears from behind her as if appearing from nowhere. “Sorry I'm late.” She almost screams in her surprise. 

Charlotte spins around, ready to chew him out for making her wait so long, and opens her mouth. “Saizo, you jerk--” … And then she stops completely when she sees that Saizo is certainly dressed for the occasion. And he looks _handsome_.

“Sorry, I, uh…” He clears his throat. “I couldn't decide on a _color_ ,” he says, as if that were the most ridiculous issue he’d had to deal with in a long time (and maybe it was).

Charlotte looks him up and down and _wow_ , even she's blown away by how nice he looks, even his hair looked like he’d put some thought into it… except… he's still wearing the mask.

“You're still wearing the mask.”

“I am still wearing the mask.”

“So take it off!”

“That's asking too much of me.”

“You can dress up to take me out on a date but you can't even be bothered to take your mask off?” She steps forward to yank it off herself. “I'll take it off myself!”

“Wait - no--!” He recoils when she gets near and then backs away from her.

“Seriously? I can’t even touch you? What, I disgust you that much?”

“That’s… not it.” 

  
"Ughhhh, you're impossible! I wasted so much time dolling up for you and you aren't even taking any of this seriously! What, is this a game for you? Do you think it's funny getting a girl's hopes up like that? I just wanted a date, you hear me?! Just one damn date where you'd be all chivalrous or whatever ninja code you abide by that should have had rules about how to treat women, or whatever! And you come here and you don't even take me seriously, why do I even bother!" Charlotte huffs, her fists clenching in her frustration, and if Saizo tried one more thing to ruin her day she swears she's gonna--   
  
He chuckles.    
  
\-- Her fist instantly collides with the side of his face, all of her pent-up anger directed right at him, knocking him down to the ground. He groans in pain, belatedly, when his brain finally processes that she’d punched him.   
  
But then she stops. "Wait," she pauses immediately (as she was, of course, winding up for another punch), "did you just chuckle?"   
  
"I don't know," Saizo says, turning his jaw in his hand to make sure nothing was broken, "was that a chuckle or the sound of me swallowing my own teeth?"   
  
"You idiot! Before I punched you!" Charlotte marches over and leans down to look at him, demeanor surprisingly calm for how angry she was just a few moments ago. "Did the silent, stoic, stick-up-his-ass Saizo really just chuckle?"    
  
He sighs, sitting back after assessing the damage - which was, thankfully, minimal. "Yes. I thought what you said was funny. Am I not allowed to laugh?"    
  
"Not without proper context, my Gods! I was so angry at you and you laughed at me!"   
  
"Heh. Apologies. That wasn't at you," he says, "well, sort of. I thought you were cute."   
  
"The hell does --!" And then she stops, pauses, and clears her throat, batting her eyelashes and posing sweetly. "Oh, you think I'm cute?"   
  
"There you go again, two-face."   
  
"You rotten--!"   
  
Saizo interrupts, "What I meant was, you came here with expectations. You wanted me to take you seriously... and I was. But I'd never seen you so serious about something before. And I mean actually serious."   
  
Charlotte frowns, and huffs before extending a hand to help him up. "Well yeah, I said I wanted a date, didn't I?"   
  
He accepts her help, and she pulls him up. "Yes, but I could have very well humored you, but I didn't. I went and got dressed up and took you out. What do you think that means?"   
  
"Keep playing these mind games with me and that'll earn you another fist, ninjaman." She holds one up as a threat. "What I'm going to assume is that you like me, right?    
  
“Like I said… I do want to be an item. I’d like to make this work.” He pauses - hesitates, really - and then begins again. “And I backed away before not because I don't like you but because I'm…” He looks around before continuing, voice lowering to almost a whisper. “I'm incredibly ticklish. You can't tell anyone. I'm trusting you with that.”

That takes a moment to process. And then Charlotte is laughing - really hard. So hard she’s clutching her sides and trying to gasp for air in between chortles. It’s adorable, really, but because she’s laughing _at_ him and not _with_ him, Saizo doesn’t think she’s earned him telling her that yet. 

“Okay… enough… Are you done yet?” Saizo waits, and then she lunges for him, hands out in a way that threatens a tickle, and Saizo jumps. “No! I trusted you with that information!” He’s expertly dodging her hands with so much concentration he barely notices her hand switch up her method of attack  - she grabs at his mask and pulls it off before he can stop her.

“Phew! That’s better, lemme get a look at you!” She playfully tosses the mask in her hand up and down, and then wolf whistles at Saizo when he comes closer, face looking a bit bare without his mask. “Hey good lookin’, you want it back? Better come and get it!” 

Saizo walks forward quietly, gaze directed right at hers, and for some reason seeing him without the mask and dressed so nicely makes Charlotte blush. 

Charlotte feels her heart beat in her chest, pulse quickening as he gets closer until she hears a steady pounding against her rib cage, because Saizo was so close and he was so handsome and--

He plucks the mask right out of her hand once she let down her guard.

“What! Sai--”

And then he catches her in a kiss.   
  
She leans right into it, hands sliding up his chest, trying her hardest not to just grab fistfuls of fabric and yank him that much closer to her, and when they pull away she lets him go.

"That-- that was our first kiss! I wasn't ready yet, you-- you dog!!"   
  
"Ha. Every dog has his day, right?" He says, with a smile. And that certainly is true. But with Charlotte, Saizo would have an eternity.


End file.
